Do the components need to be "vintage" or were you using that in reference to your vinyl plans?

Do you already have any other equipment at all?

Dave

Budget?

Good ideas.

Consider buying used, particularly your electronics. Generally you can get back out without a huge discount. www.audiogon.com is a leading source of good used audio equipment. Be sure to check out the seller's profile and use PayPal for payment if you can. NEVER, EVER pay with cash, check or money order.

Ebay is more dicey with audio equipment. There are good deals there, but you really need to know the market and the sellers. Audiogon is a safer place to start, IMHO, probably due to it attracting less attention from the scammers. I've had two great transaction on the 'gon, saving me thousands over new prices.

Dave

Hi hushdavid.
Thanks for joining the forum.

Please also check out the reviews in our Budget Components archive. You might find some ideas there. For loudspeakers in the price range you've noted, I'd look at PSB, Paradigm, and Infinity. Turntables I'd look at would be Pro-Ject and Rega.

You're saying you want a receiver, but I'm wondering if what you're actually looking for is an integrated amplifier. Forgive me if I'm wrong about this, but a lot of beginners don't realize there is a difference -- I certainly didn't when I first got into this. An integrated amp combines an amp and preamp in one box. It's all you'll need to make music. A receiver adds a tuner section, which will provide AM/FM radio. Knowing this may open your options a bit.

Some suggestions for new equipment:

Turntable
Pro-Ject Debut III basic black $300
Rega P1 $400
Music Hall MMF-2.1 $300

Amplifier
Music Hall A25.2 $500
Cambridge Audio Azur 540A V2 $450
NAD C325BEE $450
Marantz PM7001 $460
Onkyo A9555 $420
Jolida JD 1501 Hybrid $675

Loudspeakers
Infinity Primus P362 $380/pair
Paradigm Mini $330/pair or Titan Monitors $450/pair
PSB Alpha T1 $500/pair
PSB Image B25 $370/pair
Monitor Audio B2 $320/pair
Monitor Audio RS1 $475/pair
Focal JMLab Chorus 706V $595/pair

Forget the Orbs, just hype.

My favorites in italics. Listen to as much as you can as you will have to live with it.

Great list.

We (meaning others with better knowledge than I) should create a sticky of forum member recommended entry level speakers and amplification, as was done with the Great TT Post.

I have seen a good number of excellent responses to questions regarding entry level equipment. Perhaps they should be gathered.

Quote:
Thank you sir. You are correct, I had no idea. I just want something that plays my vinyl collection. so, I should look for an integrated amp?

Either an integrated amp or receiver will do the job, as long as it has a phono section. I'm an integrated amp kinda guy because (right now, at least) I like the simplicity and convenience of a single box, and I don't really care about having an AM/FM tuner. (I still consider myself a beginner in all of this, also!)

The phono preamp is required to play your vinyl. Some integrated amps and receivers come equipped with a phono section, while others make them available as plug-ins or require a separate, outboard phono section.

In general, separate components may offer greater sound quality, but may also sacrifice some amount of simplicity. The simplest solution would be to find an integrated amp or receiver that includes a phono preamp or one that offers a plug-in module.

I hope this makes sense.

i posted a similar thread but upon reading this one decided t delete it. can anyone suggest a nice tube amp on a budget? i've got the tube preamp covered. unless it only makes sense to combine the two...

Quote:
i posted a similar thread but upon reading this one decided t delete it. can anyone suggest a nice tube amp on a budget? i've got the tube preamp covered. unless it only makes sense to combine the two...

What is your budget?

Tube separates are usually going to cost more money. And many tube power amps are monoblocks, $$$$ x 2. Think about getting a good integrated tube amp.

If you eventually go with an integrated the Jolida JD 1501A hybrid 100 wpc integrated amp for $695 should get consideration. The preamp section has 12AX7 input tubes driving a MOSFET solid state power amp section. Good sound for not a lot of money. The Bada DC-222 95 wpc hybrid integrated amp for $600 is another possibility.

The Ming DA 368 B90 70 wpc integrated amp is on sale right now for $980.

The Jolida JD 302B 50 wpc tube intergrated amp is $1025.

I've only listened to a few of these, others probably have better suggestions.

Quote:
i posted a similar thread but upon reading this one decided t delete it. can anyone suggest a nice tube amp on a budget? i've got the tube preamp covered. unless it only makes sense to combine the two...

What tube preamp? Many tube preamps work well with solid state amplification. I've gone that way, most times, over the past 20 years. Best of both worlds, kinda thing.

I think if I went separates, I'd probably try the hybrid approach, like KBK... very attractive. The tonal purity of tubes plus the speed & power of SS. I have a tube integrated and a SS integrated, and I often dream about merging the best of their elements into one. Life is such a compromise!

Quote:

Quote:
i posted a similar thread but upon reading this one decided t delete it. can anyone suggest a nice tube amp on a budget? i've got the tube preamp covered. unless it only makes sense to combine the two...

What is your budget?

Tube separates are usually going to cost more money. And many tube power amps are monoblocks, $$$$ x 2. Think about getting a good integrated tube amp.

If you eventually go with an integrated the Jolida JD 1501A hybrid 100 wpc integrated amp for $695 should get consideration. The preamp section has 12AX7 input tubes driving a MOSFET solid state power amp section. Good sound for not a lot of money. The Bada DC-222 95 wpc hybrid integrated amp for $600 is another possibility.

The Ming DA 368 B90 70 wpc integrated amp is on sale right now for $980.

The Jolida JD 302B 50 wpc tube intergrated amp is $1025.

I've only listened to a few of these, others probably have better suggestions.

thanks. i've got a bellari vp129 preamp going into a nakamichi re-10. i've got a lead on a very reasonable priced jolida 302b. i'm not sure if all this will work well with the paradigm mini monitors i have. i was listening to them today with the volume cranked up and i could swear i heard knocking...

What you have in the Bellari VP129 is a phono preamp (You probably knew that, but I wasn't sure what you were talking about when you stated "preamp", a line preamp or phono preamp). The Jolida JD 302B is an integrated amplifier (line preamplifier and power amplifier combined). With the Jolida I think you may be done. What are you going to do with the Nakamichi receiver?

The knocking you are hearing from your loudspeakers may be the voicecoils bottoming out through excessive excursion. Turn the volume down if it is doing this. Sounds like you might need new loudspeakers if yours are doing this at preferred listening levels. What is your budget for loudspeakers, what kind of music do you listen to and what listening preferences do you have?

Many higher end integrated amps will not come with a phono section as we are well into the digital age and it also allows the user to select the phono preamp of their choice. If the integrated amp has no phono inputs you will need a phono preamp to connect to a line input of the amp. The Pro-Ject Phono Box MM/MC Phono Preamplifier at $130 is probably the least expensive one that will deliver good sound. The Bellari VP129 has a lot of proponents at $250 as well.

I think the JD 202A is a newer model than the SJ 202A.

Hello group,

Does anyone have a copy of the Jolida 1501A owner's manual?

Thanks,

Larry Ford